Melissa still finding it hard to believe she is actually here

Every morning when I wake up I have to take a second and remind myself I'm in Cape Town. We've been here three week and I'm still not yet sure I'm actually here! What I mean by that is that everything is so wonderful that I can't even believe it. The other night we took some time to lay outside and admire the stars. As we listened to music and talked, I found myself just in awe. I wanted to cry but not because anything was wrong but just because I realized yet again how amazing this entire opportunity has already been. I think one of the reasons I've been feeling this way is because I know that not everyone is able to have this experience and the fact that I worked so hard to be able to be here is making each moment feel even more awesome!

This week was my first week at my internship and already I know it is the right placement for me. I spent the first day observing but almost too quickly, I jumped right into my role. There were two specific moments that keep making me smile. The first one was when I taught a lesson on letter recognition and phonetics in the junior level class. The class which is typically nine students in grades six and seven is the youngest grade in our school and the majority of the students are former street kids. They are really great kids but a particular challenge in the classroom. After an hour of instruction, I asked the teacher if the lesson was ok. She looked at me and explained that her class had not actively participated in a lesson or listened that well in many weeks. Then she said "I have a lot to learn from you." I am happy to have made a good impression and I cannot wait for this relationship to strengthen into an outstanding partnership! The other incident was when I was speaking with a teacher about classroom management. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t overstepping my boundaries. The teacher asked me why I was concerned with that. She explained to me that in the classroom we are equals. If she uses authority then I can too and if she is teaching then I can teach as well! That was inspiring and extremely motivating. I can tell this is going to get better and better!

After a few days of hard work we have had the past few days and nights off. I have enjoyed the break to relax, go out and also go shopping but I’m so ready to get back to my internship! Next weekend is the home stay and I am so excited to be exposed to another aspect of Cape Town culture. I have been thinking of things that I want to do while I am here and I have a list of things to accomplish. Hopefully I'll be able to get everything done. Each day Cape Town inspires me and that is a huge blessing!